A History of the Sweeping Industry... in Print

Brochure Collection of McKinley Page

McKinley "Kenny" Page has loved sweepers since he saw his first one at about the age of three or four. His fascination with street sweepers turned into a lifelong passion. The following brochures were provided to WorldSweeper by Kenny so they could be archived for the enjoyment of the power sweeping industry for years into the future.

If you don't already know the story of Kenny Page, you owe it to yourself to find out more about him.

We know you'll enjoy this collection of sweeper-related brochures printed material. Each has a link as shown or click on the brochure cover.

The Wayne FMC Series 900 3-Wheel Street Sweeper

The Wayne Series 900 was a 3-wheel sweeper designed for street sweeping. At the time this sweeper was built, 1973, the company called its model line "America's choice in municipal sweepers and the standard by which all others are judged... due to their proven ability to excel in every important street sweeping function.

The Series 900 was called "the safest, most maneuverable street sweeper available today," with a "record for durability and low maintenance unmatched in the industry." The machine sported a V-8 engine, power steering and power brakes in order to give the operator "complete and effortless control."

The Elgin Pelican Americana

Elgin's 1979 Pelican Americana was called 'the sweeper that revolutionized an industry.' This machine replaced Elgin's previous 3-wheel sweeper, the Fleet Wing. The brochure for the Pelican Americana touted the machine's hydro-static drive, but the big innovation was a dumping system. The Americana's big breakthrough was the elimination of "double-handling" of debris. Although initially introduced in 1964, the Pelican Americana was termed a combination sweeper and front-end loader.

The foremost feature according to the brochure, which is linked below, was its "self-elevating, self-unloading hopper, capable of dumping automatically at any elevation from ground level up to 9 feet 6 inches high." If you're a 'sweeper person,' there's little doubt you won't be captivated by the linked 16-page brochure on the Elgin Pelican Americana!

The Austin-Western Model 40

The Austin-Western sweeper was, for decades in the early 20th century, one of the most recognizable and photo-worthy sweepers in America. The mechanical broom-based sweeper looked like a combination of a large tractor in the front and a rickshaw in the back. The sweeper was touted as beign ideal for street surfaces of any kind, including cobblestone, wood block, concrete or asphalt, with no concern about whether the street was rough or smooth. However, the operator was out in the open since the Model 40 did not have an enclosed cab.

Looking through this brochure for the Austin-Western Model 40 is a walk back through time to how sweepers looked and were advertised in the early 1900s. The eight-page brochure is rich in photos and even has cutaways showing how the hopper and dumping system operate.

The Elgin Fleet Wing

The Elgin Leach Corporation's Fleet Wing was the predecessor of today's Elgin's Pelican, still one of the leaders in the Elgin line of street sweepers. The brochure for the Fleet Wing touted the machine's "Expressway travel speeds" combined with "3-wheel maneuverability." That's because the sweeper could get up to a whopping 35mph! The conveyor system sported a "calenderized conveyor belt with integrally molded cleats" and the entire sweeping portion was run by PTO from the main transmission.

The gasoline tank was "terne-plated," a term one doesn't hear much anymore. In case you're not familiar, terneplate is an alloy of lead and tin, typically mixed in a ratio of four-to-one, that is used as a coating. Elgin Pelican owners and operators, especially, will enjoy comparing the features available on the Fleet Wing with those of today's Elgin Pelican.

A Look at the Iconic Elgin Street King

Many sweeper old-timers would agree that one of the most notable and recognizable street sweepers ever produced was the Elgin Street King. In the middle of the 20th century the Street King sweeper – which Elgin marketing touted as 'The Very Finest in Street Sweeping Equipment – was on the job for public works departments throughout America. In a nod to the state of engineering at the time, the Street King was also proclaimed to be "built to give you all the advantages of hydraulic power."

Even the size of the Street King brochure – at a whopping 20 pages – gives an indication of how long ago the Street King was, ahem, 'King.' The brochure offers an enjoyable look back toward the roots of the street sweeping industry to a time when the visibility available to a sweeper operator – as just one example – was virtually unlimited. (Since the Street King didn't even have an enclosed cab...!)

The Wayne Sweeper Loader

The Wayne organization called its Model 993 Sweep Loader "The Fourth Dimension in Wayne's Total Sanitation Concept."

"Wayne's Total Sanitation Concept was built around the use of the Wayne Three-wheel street sweeper," the company's brochure copy explained, "the three-wheel SWEEP LOADER street sweeper, the four-wheel street sweeper and SANIVAC, the multi-purpose vacuum power unit. Working alone or in different combinations these four units can perform more than thirty-five different sanitation operations."

Even back then, though, sweepers were being sold for their ecological value in cleaning up the environment. The brochure continues to explain that "Street Sweeping and Sanitation operations are becoming more complex and demanding as today's ecology minded citizens ask for better pollution control."